BK Technologies tethering LMR, smart devices to support push-to-talk-over-broadband services

BK Technologies today announced the development of a tethering feature within its InteropONE service that is designed to let users of the company’s P25 radios expand their communications capabilities by leveraging push-to-talk-over-broadband technology, as well as traditional LMR voice functionality.

James Teel, general manager of BK Technologies’ SaaS business, said the service—now known as a public-safety user interface—will be available to users of the BKR 5000 and BKR 9000 radios that also subscribe to InteropONE, the interoperability offering that was introduced last year as the first application of the BKRplay software platform.

While some vendors are trying to converge LMR radio capabilities and broadband smartphones into a single device, BK Technologies believes the tethering approach is most efficient, because it allows both types of communications devices to take advantage of their latest technological advances.

“We’re honing in on the tethered-device category—that is, keeping these devices separate … and let them continue to focus on what they do best, but enable them to work together in a very intelligent way,” Teel said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Through that tethered-device capability, we will enable the end user to get the best of both worlds.

“The idea here is that, if you are doing voice push to talk, you have an LMR radio that you’re comfortable with—it’s a form factor that you’re comfortable with, it’s got a loud speaker, dedicated buttons, push to talk, etc., and you’ve still got your smartphone to do smartphone things. We’re leveraging that smartphone’s broadband connection to get into the … push-to-talk server on the backend.”

A firmware upgrade to InteropONE subscribers, the public-safety user interface functionality operates through the single-band BKR 5000 radio or the multiband BKR 9000 radio. Both radios operate as a traditional P25 radio when operating on a P25 network, but the public-safety user interface allows a manual zone setting on the radio to link the radio to an Apple or Android smartphone running the InteropONE application.

This setup enables push-to-talk-over-broadband communications, so the user’s coverage footprint effectively can be expanded to include locations with Wi-Fi or cellular-broadband connectivity, according to Teel.

“The analogy here is the Apple Car Play or Android Auto kind of capability, where when we get in our vehicle that supports Apple Car Play or Android Auto, the car kind of takes over the front end of our phone,” he said. “We can keep our phone in our pocket, we can drive from the screen on our car.

“It’s similar here. The BKR 9000 is actually taking over the push-to-talk capabilities of what’s running on the InteropONE app on the smartphone.”

BK Technologies CEO John Suzuki emphasized the importance of users being able to leverage the BKR device to access the benefits of push-to-talk-over-broadband services.

“Since the introduction of push-to-talk-over-cellular (PTToC) services, public-safety adoption has been cautious,” Suzuki said in a prepared statement. “Feedback indicates that first responders prefer to use their land mobile radios (LMR) for voice group communications. LMR portable devices such as the BKR 5000 and BKR 9000 incorporate a public-safety user interface that has been optimized for emergency voice communication in loud, outdoor environments.

“With the InteropONE tethering capability, now a first responder can use his BKR radio whether he is communicating over a private P25 radio network or over a cellular network. We are always seeking to enhance our InteropONE platform with the goal of improving service for public safety responders in mission critical situations. We believe InteropONE’s tethering capability provides a meaningful step forward in BK’s ability to create seamless connectivity for public-safety field personnel.”

This capability is being tested with beta customers using both the BKR 5000 and BKR 9000 radios, and the public-safety user interface is expected to be commercially available during the first half of 2024, Teel said.

“Think of it as 1 plus 1 equals 3,” Teel said. “If [a user has] bought InteropONE and a BKR radio, we’re bringing incremental value to our customers … It’s a firmware update at no cost.”

Teel said he believe the new interface capability will have broad appeal to existing LMR users.

“The folks who are looking to augment LMR with broadband connectivity for push to talk would be the general target,” Teel said. “I think it’s less interesting to someone who hasn’t traditionally carried a land mobile radio. So, if I’m in an administrative or managerial level within public safety today and may not be carrying an LMR radio, then it may not be as attractive.

“But a person that’s carrying that radio and also wants a way to augment their land-mobile [connectivity] … if it goes down or I’m out of coverage, this provides an alternative through InteropONE and a broadband network.”

By developing a solution that leverages LMR and broadband devices separately, the BK Technologies’ tethered service allows users to take advantage of the latest performance and functionality upgrades, Teel said. This is particularly important in the fast-changing broadband market, as standards evolve from 4G to 5G and technologies such as satellite-direct-to-phone potentially emerge.

“If it happens, it’s something we can take advantage of,” Teel said.